Vespers, Caviar and Champagne

After winning the poker game at Royale, Bond and Vesper are having a late night dinner in the restaurant back at the Hotel Splendide. It should be around 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, but apparently the kitchen is still open for the guests. Bond is served another Vesper (don't know how many he has had before) and Vesper is drinking Bollinger La Grand Année. They are served caviar and toast along with the drinks, but it appears that Bond is the only one with an appetite.

A bottle of Bollinger La Grande Année is kept on ice and Bond has a bowl of caviar in front of him

The restaurant scene was filmed at the Grand Hotel Pupp restaurant in May 2006, along with all the other scenes shot in the beautiful Czech town of Karlovy Vary. Bond's table has a nice view over the river that runs alongside the hotel.

The restaurant at the Grand Hotel Pupp is excellent, and the waiters are providing a sterling European service that would be fitting for Bond. If you visit the hotel during low season it should not be a problem to get Bond's table from the film. The restaurant gave a very positive impression and the food was very well prepared.

For dinner we had pan-fried fois gras, lamb with mint sauce and of course a bottle of Bohemia Sekt, the biggest producer of Sparkling wine in the Czech Republic. Don't forget to order a bottle of Mattoni as well, a mineral water from the nature in the surroundings of Karlovy Vary, tapped on location. When one is in Karlovy, one should delve deeply into its treasures...

Just like in the novel, Bond and Vesper are having caviar and Champagne for dinner, again a very subtle nod to the original Fleming story.

"The problem is not how to get enough caviar but how to get enough toast with it."

           -James Bond in Ian Fleming's Casino Royale-

Post dinner it is highly recommended to enjoy a drink and a cigar in the bar lounge. Eastern Europe is still a heaven for cigar lovers, since they haven't banned smoking in bars, casinos and night clubs. Yet...
Walking around "Casino Royale" and all the other beautiful buildings and the adjacent park is a magnificent experience.

Grand Hotel Pupp also has its own casino in an adjacent building, so why not loose a few koruna on Roulette. The Czech Republic is reasonably cheap, even though Karlovy is a rather expensive city.